Respectable participants of this international world social forum on world peace, with many activists and experts, and media both from India and all over the world, I am honored to be here to share my opinions concerning 'militarism, war, and peace in the Korean Peninsula,' particularly North Korea's nuclear issue. First of all, I would like to say that my opinion might differ from the official position of the government of South Korea. Please regard my views as those of an individual among various social organizations working for anti-militarism, anti-war, and peace of Korea as well as peace of the world. Since I'm a senior executive chairperson of the Pan-national Committee Regarding Two Young Girls Killed by US GIs in Korea (hereafter referred to as "the committee") I will start with the tragic deaths of two girls. On June 13, 2002, a tragic incident occurred where two young Korean school students were killed by U.S. soldiers operating a military vehicle. They were Shin Hyo- soon and Shim Mi-sun, 14-year old girls of second grade in middle school. US soldiers, who are responsible for killing the two young Korean girls with their vehicles on mobile operation, are driver Mark Walker and navigator Fernando Nino, soldiers belonging to US 2nd army division in South Korea. The Committee organized nearly a month later after this unhappy incident and demanded four things: 1. Formation for a joint investigative body including Korean citizen organizations. 2. President Bush directly and publicly apologize to the Korean people. 3. Revise unequal SOFA between Korea and USA (the Status of Forces Agreement between USA and Korea) (hereafter called "SOFA"). 4. Prosecute US soldiers in the Korean court. They were all rejected by US authorities. US authority only repeated its rights according to SOFA. Disregarding Koreans' wishes, US military court took place from November 18 to 22. The seven member jury declared an innocent verdict after hearing the driver's testimony that he couldn't hear the other soldier's call to stop. But at the same time other US soldier testified that there was no problem with the communication equipment. US authorities and military authorities did not deny the killings, but the two soldiers went back to the US freely after an acquittal sentence was handed down to them at an American military court. Under current unequal SOFA, in regard to incidents occurring during official military operation, US military authorities have exclusive prosecutorial authority. Korean prosecutors with the pressure from people, asked US military authority for the first time since half a century of US occupation of South Korea, to relinquish its jurisdiction but US authorities turned down the request. This acquittal has fueled tremendous increase in anti-American sentiments among South Koreans. The acquittal completely ignored Korean courts, violated military sovereignty of Korea, and degraded Korean dignity. The two deaths were not simply a result of a traffic accident; rather it is a part of over 200,000 crimes committed by US soldiers against South Korean civilians during the past 50 years. SOFA, which states that crimes committed by US soldiers while on duty cannot be prosecuted by Korean courts, still remains an unequal agreement. Candlelight rallies, drawing hundreds of thousands of people, reflect Korean people's wrath for this inequity, injustice, and the reality of the absence of military sovereignty in Korean government. I believe that Korean anti-US sentiment has become a political influence on South Korea-US relations. Those working on Korean issues in the Congress or the Administration need to consider anti-US sentiments and its effect on US policy towards Korea. Due to the mounting indignation of the Korean people as a consequence of this incident, the American ambassador invited the leaders of the committee and the parents of the two dead girls into his office to apologize and American soldiers in Korea have designated June 13 as a memorial day for the two girls. I believe fifty years of armistice has fostered unequal South Korea-US relations and antagonistic North Korea-US relations. They need to be normalized. And US must respect and observe faithfully its obligations stipulated in the pact of NPT. I believe this is the only way to resolve the crisis and these changes will lead to peace and reunification for Korea and cooperation and prosperity in East Asia. Korean peoples were indignant when they saw their government's incompetence during the war crisis. So they revolved to renew their self-reliance and independence from American influence. And they demanded to restore national sovereignty and self-reliance. At Kwanghwa-moon, candlelight rallies for peace and national sovereignty were held 400 times last year. Right now the Korean authorities under apparent pressure from the US urged the public to stop candlelight rallies and tried to subdue the demonstrators with all kinds of violence, force, and terror by the police force. The Chong-no Ku office even removed the monument of candlelight for national sovereignty and peace on January 2nd, 2004. The current crisis in the Korea Peninsula, resulting from the complexities of South Korea-US and North Korea-US relations, will affect the future relationship between Korea and US. In order to resolve the problem, I urge the Bush Administration to stop actions that lead to raising the danger of war in Korea. When US begins to negotiate, Korean people will see that Washington is actually doing something to resolve the impasse existing in S. Korea-US and N. Korea-US relations peacefully and anti-US sentiments among South Koreans will subside. If both sides negotiate, it will be mutually beneficial. The US government must stop pressuring the Korean government to dispatch Korean troops to Iraq. And the Bush Administration must actively take actions requested by North Korea, particularly giving North Korea a nonaggression written guarantee and at the same time ceasing any war threat to N.K, for it immediately threatens the entire Korean peninsula. Washington must respect North Korea and its sovereignty by lifting its economic sanction toward N. Korea and exchanging its diplomatic envoys from each country.. Washington must abandon its preemptive strike policy against N. Korea and change its policy toward Korean peninsula into a soft-landing (sunshine) policy rather than a hardline one. Recent rise of anti-US sentiments in South Korea started from the students' death and was aggravated Bush Administrations Korean policies, i.e., labeling North Korea as a rogue country and part of the "axis of evil." US labeled North Korea as a target of preemptive strike. After Iraq, US policymakers openly stated a regime change in North Korea and are really strengthening punitive economic sanction against North Korea. This only creates a sense of fear. Regarding six-way talks on N. Koreas nuclear issue, we object, for it is essentially a platform for USs threat of war and for pressuring N. Korea, even though it is reported that N. Korean authority decided to welcome to N. Korea the representatives from IAEA. I think it is reasonable that N. Korea challenges NPT because it is a challenge to US's hegemony to the world. Frankly speaking, it is Bush rather than Kim Chongil that we human beings fear. Rep. Buyong Lee, a member of a new party called "Yullin Woori Dang" in Korean, favors the "Weldon-plan" as the most realistic way to solve North Korea's nuclear issue. According to Rep. Lee, Weldon, a house representative of US, visited N. Korea at the end of last May and proposed a plan in which the US promises a non- aggression guarantee while N. Korea gives up nuclear weapons. The Weldon-plan seems to be a reasonable one but I object because it presupposes that it is N. Korea rather than Bush that broke the Geneva Accord and that N. Korea already has nuclear bombs.. US has demanded that S. Korean authority dispatch its troops to Iraq and the Korean government decided to accept US's proposal and sent it to Congress for final approval. According to Sellig Harrison, who is well known to Koreans, US will continue its economic sanction against N. Korea until the time of the presidential election. And he thinks if Bush is re- elected war in the Korean Peninsula will be inevitable in April, 2005. We, therefore, have to do all we can to stop Bushs re- election not only for the sake of US but for the rest of the world. For Koreans the supreme goal is to curb any possibility of war breaking out. However, it may not be an issue for Koreans only but a concern for the entire peace loving world. We earnestly hope that Bush takes a series of dramatic actions necessary to stop war against Iraq and promote peace in the Korean peninsula, North-east Asia and the rest of the world. Bush should stop its policy of increasing enmity and war-crisis against N. Korea and rather try to find peaceful ways and means through dialogue to solve any new problems with N. Korea regarding nuclear weapons issue. This is the only practical way to decrease anti-US sentiments among Koreans and others, too. Particularly I want to point out three ideological imperatives regarding this matter. Firstly, US should give up the very idea of war. In front of a military base theres a slogan that says 'anyone who wants peace tomorrow better prepare for war today.' Such slogan rationalizes that war is inevitable and a necessary evil. However, it is wrong, for war is neither inevitable nor a necessary evil. To us as human beings it is time to choose between peace and war. It is a choice between survival and wiping out the whole of humanity from the face of this earth. For today's war is not a conventional war of fighting with conventional weapon, but with nuclear weapon and can therefore lead to absolute mass destruction. To avoid such war is the only way for human beings to survive. The tendency to accept the idea of killing people in certain situation like war must be given up. In ancient times militarism was an accepted idea. In the war, people used to think that soldiers are dispensable, thus killing their enemies and being killed at the same time. However, Jesus taught that a single human life is worthier than the whole universe. A Jewish proverb has it, to condemn someone is actually to condemn his creator God.. To kill someone is to deny and reject someone's life, and its contrary to God's creation of life. In Korea there is a movement song with the line human being is more beautiful than the flower. Of course human beings are more beautiful than flowers. However, that idea has to be further developed. Human being is a being endowed with purpose, not simply a means to achieve something. Human life is not a calculable quantity, but a more important being. Human life cannot be replaced by anything. According to the Korean indigenous religion Tong-hak (meaning 'east teaching'), human being are considered 'In-nae-chun,' which means 'human being is heaven.' The teaching that a human being is God is a very important idea that surpasses Christianity. Secondly, we have to change our belief that the cost of war is cheaper than peace. This is an idea advocated only by warmongers and militarists. However, it is wrong. It might mean pain and loss, particularly economic loss, to change from military war industry to peace industry. Though this might be a temporary reality, in the long run peace is more economical than war. US wants war. US wants militarism. For US manufacturing, producing, and selling military weapons is beneficial. Three things are necessary for todays military industry: high technology, huge capital, and will. And US, which might be the only super state with these requirements, wants to make money from it. From this militarism arises. Thirdly, and finally, the very idea that peace can be subject to bigger purposes should be dropped out. However, peace is bigger purpose and the greatest of the anything is life. Life matters. Life needs sovereignty and self-reliance. It should be a universal truth. It is usually said that sex, sports, screen, these 3Ss is a conspiracy invented by politicians to direct people' attention to things other than politics. In reality, it is crimes related to alcohol, drugs, terror, etc that destroy society. The words, love, equality, freedom are written on the flag of the French Revolution. In the Bible, it is written, now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13: 13).. Following the biblical word, I think life, good, and peace abide, these three, and the greatest of these is life. I think for human beings, life more than love, peace more than hope, good more than faith is necessary. That's why we advocate peace among other things. Peace is the best condition to sustain life. No matter how weak or small an individual or a nation may be, they still need sovereignty and self-reliance. They are the way to peace. Better to die standing up as a free person than to live kneeling down as a slave. This is not merely the moving and persuasive words of a Jewish priest from a sermon during the Jewish-Roman war in 68-70 AD. It is the philosophy of life or way of life for us today. A war against Iraq is not to be tolerated. Military troops to this kind of unjust war should not be sent. Peace can be earned without militarism, terrorist war, or hegemony of neo-liberalism's globalization. * A Paper presented at the Fourth World Social Forum. 17th January, 2004, Mumbai, India. * Keun-Soo Hong. Christian Minister, co-representative of The Korea Minjung (Peoples') Solidarity (an alliance of over 200 NGOs in South Korea, founded in 2003, Seoul, Korea), Executive President of the Pan-national Committee for the Late Hyo-soon Shin and Mi-sun Shim Killed by US GIs, and Advisor to the People's Solidarity for Social Progress